Every Human Thing
by Lena Liz Carter
Summary: Flynn doesn't come back from 1611 and Eve completely breaks down. She wants to forget everything so that she doesn't have to face any more heartbreak. Will Jacob be able to convince her to stay? Contains heaps of romantic angst, conveniently forgetful Jenkins, a spoiled goddess, some Guardian-on-Librarian violence and a hidden Warehouse 13 reference later on. Eve/Stone fic
1. Prologue

_On love, on grief, on every human thing,_

 _Time sprinkles Lethe's water with his wing._

 _(Walter Savage Landor)_

There should have been two statues.

The Librarians and Jenkins were expecting two statues, but under the cloth there was just one. A woman with her face covered by her hands as if she was weeping.

"Is it her?" asked Ezekiel.

"Of course it's her," Jacob grumbled from behind him. "How do we get her out?"

"Maybe we could..." Cassandra began, but never got to finish. The stone started to crumble and in a matter of seconds, Eve Baird lowered her hands.

A teardrop rolled down her face and after four hundred years fell on her palm. She looked around slowly, no joy in her face.

"Where is Flynn?" asked Cassandra shakily.

Eve looked at her, her face devoid of all emotion. "He didn't make it."

"What happened? Did something go wrong?" Cassandra sounded sympathetic, but also a little frightened, because what could kill a Librarian, who stayed alive for eleven years?

"He fell off a horse," Eve said shortly. "Broke his neck."

Then she walked past all of them and disappeared in the Library.

They found her sitting on the floor in front of Flynn's portrait. Jenkins ushered Cassandra and Ezekiel to the Annex, saying that Colonel wants to be alone, but Jacob didn't go with them. He simply brought some research for his new book, sat on the stairs leading to the Annex and got to work. Except for an occasional glance Jacob cast in Eve's direction they ignored each other.

She broke down five hours forty two minutes in.

He didn't raise his head when he heard the first sob. He carefully wrapped the book he was holding (it _was_ a fifteenth century manuscript and Jones could accidentally step on it, if it was left lying around), walked over and sat next to her. She rested her head on his shoulder, he wrapped one arm around her and she cried and cried.

After there were no more tears left, she got up and walked away without even a nod in Jacob's direction. He understood. Eve Baird never showed weakness to anyone, so it was much easier to pretend it never happened than to face it.

 _She will deal with it,_ Jacob told himself. _One day she will._


	2. Jacob

_And the ghosts in the attic,_

 _They never quite leave_

 _And of course I forgive_

 _You've seen how I live_

 _I've got darkness and fears to appease_

 _(Vienna Teng – Eric's Song)_

"So, I have noticed," Cassandra remarked as they walked up the secret corridor under the Mycenae palace, "that Colonel Baird hasn't spoken a word to you ever since she got back."

"To be fair, she doesn't speak much to anyone these days, but she seems to exclude Stone here specifically," Ezekiel added.

Jacob just huffed and walked on. He had expected Eve having trouble dealing with Flynn's death. He knew she would probably hate him for seeing her in her weakest moment. He just didn't expect her to hate him _so much_. She wouldn't look at him, she wouldn't talk to him, she wouldn't even mention his name unless it was unavoidable.

And things were even worse. Ever since they brought her back from the stone five weeks ago, she hadn't left the Library. She had sent them on every mission alone, barely even providing strategy tips. Barely caring about them coming back.

Like she was still a stone.

The three Librarians walked to the Greek sun and through a supply closet door in the tourist office back to the Library.

"Water from the River Lethe," Ezekiel announced, waving the small ceramic amphora around. "One drink and you forget all your life."

Jenkins rushed to take the amphora from his hands, while Eve's head shot up. For the first time in weeks, there was a look of interest on her face. Jacob didn't miss it and he knew what it meant.

Later that night Eve Baird sneaked through the Library to a glass case, where she took a small ceramic amphora. She looked around, took two large gulps from it and waited. Nothing happened. A look of confusion crossed her face before she saw a reflection in the glass case.

"It's just water," said Jacob. "I switched it."

"Where is the right one?" Eve asked. There was a veiled threat in her voice, one that Jacob easily noticed.

"I am not telling you, until you give me a good reason," he replied.

"Jacob, please," she begged and for a moment he was tempted to give her everything she asked for. "I want to forget. The pain is too much."

"People lose people, that's life. You know it better than anybody."

"Not him. Not like this. He wasn't supposed to be killed by something this stupid... He was supposed to die saving the world, to go out with a bang." He could see her fighting the tears she was determined not to shed again.

"Eve, you are a soldier. You must have lost people close to you before," Jacob whispered.

"Not someone I l..." The word stuck in her throat. "Just give me the water."

"No."

"I can't go through this again! I _have_ lost people before, I have lost too many. I want to forget it all, I want them to be gone!" she yelled. "You don't understand, you don't know!"

"The woman I love died in my arms! Mabel died in my arms! I know how it feels!" he shouted back. Hell, he wanted to be kind and understanding, but the heartbreak of watching her being trapped in 1611 was too fresh for him to keep a level head.

"You know jack! Where is the water?"

"I'm not letting you throw everything away. You're not killing yourself tonight."

"I'm not committing a suicide, I want to forget, that's all. Give me the water."

"Your experience, all the bad, and all the good, that's what makes you Eve Baird. Forget it all and you cease to be you. You die. And that's not happening on my watch."

"It's not your decision to make!"

He gave her a small sad smile. "You're right. But I'm making it anyway."

She lunged at him. He trained with her for hours and could keep his ground pretty well, but she had years and years of experience, combined with fury and desperation. He was proud that it took her whole five minutes to pin him to the ground.

"Where is it?"

"Each minute you're giving me more reasons not to tell you."

She punched him.

"Where is it?"

"Not where you can reach it."

Another punch.

"Where is it?"

"You can beat me to a pulp, I still won't tell you, sweetheart."

Punch. This time he heard his nose break.

For a split of a second she looked horrified. She looked at her fist like it was a nuclear bomb. Then she stood up and walked away. Jacob smiled through the pain, because he managed to make her angry. Anger was good. It was an emotional response, which was more than what they had been getting these past weeks.

Jacob refused any magical healing and walked in the Annex next morning with his face bruised and swollen. Eve actually looked at him when she heard the gasps, winced and looked away. Again, a progress compared to the weeks of utter ignorance.

"Jake, what happened?" Cassandra squeaked. "Did someone attack you?"

"I got into a fight..." he hesitated, unsure what to reveal. "With a stone statue," he added at last.

"What?" Ezekiel raised his eyebrows and Jacob could almost hear the days of teasing that were coming.

"I knocked it over and it fell straight in my face. It had this interesting symbols..."

Ezekiel rolled his eyes. "Man, one day your nerdiness is going to kill you."

"I'm not a nerd, I just love beautiful things!" Stone defended himself. "Even when they are a bit worse for wear."

"What?" said Cassandra and Ezekiel in unison.

Luckily he was saved by the Clippings Book. They all walked over to look at the new case and Eve joined them this time. Only she was careful to keep her skinned knuckles in her pockets.

One evening he found her searching his apartment.

"You're not going to find it there."

She turned around and dropped the pants she was holding. She was mortified and it was good. It was an emotion.

"Sorry about your nose," she muttered.

That had happened a week ago and Jacob had finally agreed to let Jenkins use some potion on him, so his face was almost back to normal.

"It was my fault too," he said. "You're wasting your time, it's not here. Let's sit down," he gestured to the kitchen.

Eve gingerly accepted his invitation. He offered her something to drink, but she shook her head, so he sat at the table and looked at her.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Because I still believe you can heal. Properly, on your own, without any magic. I know it's one hell of a fight, but I'm not letting you shoot yourself in the leg. Because you can win this."

"Give me a good reason," she challenged him.

"I have lost you twice," he confessed. "I don't think in this case third time is a charm."

She looked down at her hands. "You're a selfish, hypocritical prick, Jacob Stone," she said finally, her voice getting louder with every word. "You keep telling me how I should get over my loss, but here you are, treating me like I'm a naughty child because you don't want to lose me. You know what? Go to hell!"

With that she stormed off and Jacob stared at her empty chair, the echo of the slammed door still lingering in the air.

Could she be right? Was he a selfish hypocrite who wouldn't let her find peace because of his own petty desires? He thought he was saving her, but maybe he was just afraid of letting her go.

He walked over to the shelf and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. It was no water from Lethe, but it also helped with forgetting.

He came to the Annex the next morning with a first-class hangover, but judging by Eve's bloodshot eyes and pallor, he wasn't the only one. Cassandra tiptoed around them all day and Ezekiel's jokes resulted in Eve sending him to clean the Schrodinger's cat litterbox.

Annoyed was good. It was an emotion.

But Jacob was still haunted by the conversation from the last night. Should he tell her where he put the water? Was he a bad person to keep it from her?

In the evening, when his head cleared a little, he made his decision.


	3. Eve

_And of course I forgive_

 _I've seen how you live_

 _Like a phoenix you rise from the ashes_

 _(Vienna Teng – Eric's Song)_

* * *

Eve was making herself the fifth coffee that day. She hadn't had a good night's sleep since she came back. The images of Flynn dead in her arms were keeping her awake. It was so fast they didn't even have chance to say goodbye and this unsaid farewell was still hanging in the air, haunting Eve wherever she went.

So far she survived on coffee, suppressing her emotions and hoping to find that stupid water Jacob hid.

Speaking of the devil, Jacob appeared in the doorway. Like every time she saw him, she felt a whole cocktail of emotions. A pang of guilt. Friendship. Trust, even though it was cracked. Gratitude for holding her as her heart broke and never speaking about it again. And anger. She knew he meant well, but the road to hell was paved with good intentions. Also, she couldn't forget that in an alternate universe, they had been together, and that somehow made her even angrier.

 _The alternate me is an ass... cause I miss you, Eve._

She saw the same expression on this Jacob's face from time to time. Like now. It looked like he was saying goodbye.

 _I miss you._

But this wasn't a Jacob Stone who loved Eve Baird. This was a Jacob Stone who was driving her up the wall. She took a deep breath and braced herself for the next gem of wisdom he was about to grace her with.

"I am sorry," he said.

Well, that was new.

"I am an ass," he continued.

 _The alternate me is an ass..._ Now there was something all of them agreed on.

"I shouldn't give you riddles or ultimatums. We should have talked. I should have listened."

"I am sorry, too," Eve admitted. "For breaking your nose. And for not appreciating how you're still looking out for me."

"Watching your six. Always," he chuckled.

She smiled. "I just want to start over," she said.

"That's a good reason," he nodded, pulled out a small silver flask and offered it to her, but when she reached for it, he pulled it back.

"What now?" she sighed.

"I want to ask you something. It's not a condition, just a request. If you say no, I'll hand it over right away. But before you drink it, before you leave, come with us for one last case. For the old times' sake," he pleaded with that look on his face.

 _I miss you, Eve._

She owed it to him. More than that, she wanted to do it. Like Flynn, she wanted to save the world one last time. And maybe, just maybe, fight with Jacob by her side one last time.

* * *

"So, this model, she calls herself Asta Love, got super successful super fast," Cassandra explained, "and men around her seem to do her every bidding. Some of them at least. And some women. Really there is no pattern to the immunity. We're not really sure what she's using. Could be a number of things..."

Eve looked around the huge studio where Asta Love was doing her last photoshoot, which apparently required miles of black and red lace.

"Okay, Jones, try to look at the girl's things, see if you find something out of place. Cassandra, women seem to be immune more often, so you try to talk to the lady herself. If you feel anything wrong, get out of there as fast as you can. Jacob, you and I will try to chat with the staff." Eve gave out orders and couldn't miss the delighted looks on Cassandra's and Ezekiel's faces as they obeyed. She didn't tell them about her agreement with Jacob, they thought she was coming back for good.

She tried not to think about how heartbroken they will be when she leaves them and focused on the investigation. All of the staff seemed to be absolutely devoted to Miss Love. They attributed her success to her talent and beauty and overall perfection.

"They're all in love with her," Jacob muttered. "They aren't going to talk."

"Agreed," Eve muttered. "Let's regroup and hope that Cassandra or Jones found something."

They couldn't find neither Cassandra nor Ezekiel at first, but when they did, things got even more complicated. They were in the model's dressing room, both sitting on the floor next to Asta Love's chair, staring lovingly at her.

Asta Love herself was stunningly beautiful, Eve had to admit. Olive skin, huge black eyes, waves of black hair reaching the small of her back, perfectly symmetrical body, slim, but not as skinny as your usual supermodel... Gorgeous didn't even begin to describe it.

"Hello," she greeted them. "You must be Eve and Jacob. Cassandra and Ezekiel told me all about you."

The two Librarians at her feet practically drooled when she mentioned their names.

"Eve, look," Jacob whispered. "Look at the decorations here. Lions and eight-pointed stars. Of course! Asta Love – she is Astarte, Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love and war!" He said the last sentence loud enough for Asta Love to hear.

"Very good," Ishtar purred. "Come here, Jacob Stone, for you can capture my heart. Take my hand and forget all your woes. There is nothing but bliss in the world where love sits on the throne."

"Don't tell me Cassandra and Ezekiel fell for this crap," Eve snorted.

"I am not talking to you," Ishtar snapped. "I hold no appeal for you when I am in a female body, I can't do for you what I can do for Jacob, what I did for Cassandra and Ezekiel. _Your_ offer will come in a minute. But for your information, no, they didn't accept my offer because I gave them no choice. I took them as I take everything I desire. But it's so much better when they surrender willingly," she turned back to Jacob, who seemed to be unable to move. "Take my hand, Jacob Stone, and I will show you arts you have never dreamed of."

Jacob seemed to gather his strength, gulped and finally he managed to say: "I know what Gilgamesh said to you."

Ishtar cried out in fury, but Jacob continued: " _You have loved the stallion magnificent in battle, and for him you decreed the whip and spur and a thong_. Those were his words when he refused your hand in marriage. I wouldn't handle whip and spur well, not to mention thong."

Eve burst out laughing, but one look at Ishtar's face stopped her. Suddenly she remembered that Ishtar was also a war goddess.

"I can curse your heart," the goddess hissed at Jacob, who flinched. "You will lose every woman you fall for. You shall never know peace. Every breath you take, your heart shall bleed, tortured and crippled!"

To Eve's surprise, Jacob smiled, a little cheeky, a little sad. "Can't make it worse than it already is, sweetheart."

Ishtar stroke fast like a cobra and Jacob collapsed. The only thing Eve could do was to catch him like he used to catch Cassandra.

"What did you do to him?" she yelled at the smirking goddess, holding Jacob like she held Flynn four hundred years ago.

"His heart was already broken. I just broke it a little more. Why did you have to come here? All these people," she gestured to her staff, "are happy."

Eve gently set Jacob on the floor and stood up to face Ishtar. "They are your slaves."

"But I am a kind mistress," the goddess replied. "They all adore me."

"From what Jacob said, I gather that people who love you tend to meet tragic ends."

"But they die for love. What better death is there?" Ishtar waved her hand and Ezekiel and Cassandra stood up like puppets on strings. "My Librarians agree with me."

"Yes, my lady," said Cassandra and Ezekiel.

That was it.

"Not _your_ Librarians, you bitch," growled Eve and lunged at her.

She took the goddess by surprise, knocked her down, pinned her to the floor and started with the beating. After all the pain Flynn's death put her through, she wanted nothing more than to punch love in the face and now she could. Every sleepless night, every shed tear, every minute she stared at a gun contemplating, she took it all out on Ishtar. Because she had already loved and lost and became a wreck and now love was trying to claim the rest of her family? _Not going to happen._

"They – are – not – yours!" She followed every word with a punch. "They are mine! Do you hear me? Mine!"

Even though every mark she left on Ishtar's face healed instantly, the goddess looked scared. In the end, she simply disappeared in a puff of smoke. Ezekiel and Cassandra shook their heads like they were waking up from a long sleep. Eve saw they were fine and turned to Jacob, but he was still motionless on the floor.

* * *

"What's wrong with him?" Eve demanded.

They laid Jacob on a stretcher in the Annex and while Eve was holding his hand, Jenkins was trying to determine what was wrong. Eve's fussing certainly wasn't helping. Jenkins gave her a slightly annoyed look and continued to examine Jacob. "Some sort of broken heart curse, but Ishtar is much older than me. When it comes to magic, and especially love magic, she is a university graduate while I barely know how to spell."

"She can't be that good. I beat her up," Eve said.

"While Ishtar is undoubtedly powerful, she is also lazy and spoiled. She likes easy prey and easy solutions that don't involve her working very much. You caught her harvesting power from the adoration of the people she touched. She could just as easily gain power from starting an international conflict, but being a war goddess requires so much effort! Being a love goddess requires mainly looking pretty and letting people do everything you ask for, which is comfortable, brings her power and as a bonus, gives her already humongous ego a boost. You proved yourself to be tough nut to crack and Ishtar moved somewhere else rather than troubled herself with you," said Jenkins. "But Mr. Stone refused her and that's about the most reliable way to piss her off. Hell hath no fury like a love goddess scorned."

"So how do we bring him back?" Eve asked. Ezekiel and Cassandra were already researching the Library, but she put most hope in Jenkins.

"I don't even know if we can." Jenkins sighed deeply, reached in his pocket and handed her a familiar silver flask. "Mr. Stone asked me to give this to you in case something would happen to him. I don't agree with this, but I do understand your motivation."

She took it and stared at it for a long time. Here it was, the escape she had been searching for so long. The only problem was, she still had work to do. She couldn't leave until she brought Jacob back.

Jenkins slowly walked to the door, but he paused half way and turned around. "It is none of my business, but I would say that a person who has enough love in her to send Ishtar herself running also has a couple of reasons to stick around."

With that he disappeared and closed the door behind him.

"What did I get myself into?" Eve asked the still unconscious Jacob. "I could have just drank the water from Lethe and live as a schoolteacher in Wyoming or something. But no, I had to go on one last mission! And you!" she jabbed her finger in Jacob's direction. "You self-righteous ass just couldn't let me leave!"

Realization hit her like a Minotaur.

"You couldn't let me leave..."

 _I miss you, Eve._

Eve knew how selfish people could be when they were in love. She would leave the Library and her Librarians, just so she didn't have to remember losing Flynn. Jacob refused to give her the peace she desired just so he wouldn't lose her. Once again she realized how similar they were and was flooded with affection for him. She remembered how she saved him from Lamia and the ninjas, how well they worked together from the first moment. How he ran the Minotaur over with a car to save her. How she fell asleep on his shoulder on the way back from Slovakia. The small smile, a little cheeky, a little sad, when his alternate self was saying goodbye. How smoothly they worked together when they fought the Queen of Hearts. How he could barely punch Dorian Gray because it was hurting her. The look in his eyes when he was saying goodbye to her in 1611.

 _Ride safe... take care of each other..._

He basically told her and Flynn to be happy together. He was the first one to figure out what was going on and the first one to leave the paradox portal. Eve understood how he felt back then.

 _In your world, we didn't have our ten years._

She remembered that he held her as she died.

She caressed his cheek and sighed, eyes brimming with tears. "You acted like an idiot with the Lethe water, but you did apologize for it. And I have forgiven you. I just want you back. I can't lose both Flynn and you. That pain wouldn't go away even if I drank the whole Lethe River. I am so sorry, Jake. I should have paid more attention. I should have _known_."

She leaned to kiss his forehead and one tear fell from her lashes on Jacob's closed eyelid.

"I was an ass... cause I miss you, Jake."

* * *

Eve wiped the tears off her face, determined to go and help Ezekiel and Cassandra with the research, when Jacob moved. First he opened his eyes and then he slowly sat up and stretched. That was all he managed to do before Eve pulled him to a bone-crushing hug.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I thought I would never see you again," she whispered in his ear, tears streaming down her face.

"It's okay, sweetheart, I'm back," he soothed her and patted her back.

"I'm not drinking it," she continued. "I can't drink it. I have you and Cassandra and Jones and Jenkins. I can't leave you."

"That's good," he pulled her a little closer. "That's good."

She heard running feet and Cassandra yelling "I got it!", but she ignored it. Then the door to the Annex burst open and there was a long silence.

"The tears of regret from the one who broke his heart," whispered Cassandra somewhere behind Eve's back.

"I don't get it," said Jones from approximately the same place.

"You knew it all the time, didn't you?" spoke Cassandra again. "It's not a very rare cure."

"Now that you mention it, I might have heard about it. But there are so many things to remember, one tends to be forgetful after all those centuries," replied Jenkins, who had to be standing with Cassandra and Jones. "Also, it has to be honest regret, without any ulterior motives. It works best when the regretting party doesn't know that it's a cure."

Eve decided to have a chat with Jenkins later. But right now she was hugging Jacob and didn't intend to let him go.


	4. Epilogue

_For we don't realize_

 _Our faith in the prize_

 _Unless it's been somehow elusive_

 _How swiftly we choose it_

 _The sacred simplicity_

 _Of you at my side_

 _(Vienna Teng – Eric's Song)_

* * *

The back door was active.

Eve walked through and found herself in Paris, in the Luxembourg Garden. It took her a while to find Jacob sitting on a bench by the Medici Fountain. She sat down next to him.

"It has been a couple of emotional weeks," she said.

"You're right," Jacob agreed.

"And I have been quite a mess."

"To be fair, we both were."

"And while being a mess, we hurt each other. In some cases literally. I think I can try not being a mess now. I want things to go back to normal. Well, our normal, not normal normal, you know."

"I know."

Jacob hadn't really said anything yet, he just nodded to everything _she_ said. Eve was wondering what was that supposed to mean.

"And one day I want to try us. Together."

He looked at her and smiled like this was exactly what he expected her to say.

"I would like that too," he said.

"I mean, Flynn's death is still fresh and it still hurts and I am not ready to be with someone else yet, but when the time comes, it would make me very happy if you would give it a shot."

"Eve," he said gently. "Do whatever you need to do. Take all the time you need. Heal. I am not going anywhere."

"Thank you." She got up and offered her hand to him. "Why don't we start with you showing me Paris?"

He smiled, a little cheeky, a little happy, and took her hand.


End file.
